GIVEN the questionable fight shown by India ­yesterday, Alastair Cook’s time on his own at the top of the list of England’s leading Test century-makers may not last until the end of this series.

With Kevin Pietersen, who is just one behind his captain with 22, in bristling form and still to come at some stage today, and England in an increasingly strong position on this tour, Cook could well be joined by his No 4 before the final Test is done in Nagpur.

But if there was any doubt that when Cook’s achievements are placed in historical context at the end of his career he will be clear of the chasing pack by a country mile, it came not with his unbeaten 136 at Eden Gardens but when he reached 88.

That was the point Cook became the youngest man in Test history to reach 7,000 runs.

It was a statistic on a day of numerical assault that showed both how far he has come and how far he still has to travel.

No less than Sachin Tendulkar, forced to field virtually all day and watch wistfully as Cook erased his record, was the previous youngest at 28 years and 193 days. England’s new captain got there 18 days before his 28th birthday.

He reminds me of Marcus Trescothick

Nick Crompton

All manner of milestones lie ahead but it is feasible, given a clear run of fitness and motivation, that Cook’s eventual century haul could be double what it is now.

In the six and a half years since making his England debut, in Nagpur in March 2006, he is playing in his 86th Test. Another six and a half years, still just 34, could see him with 46 and 14,000 runs. Figures like that would place him among the game’s true greats.

Cook is known to like a stat or two but, for now, he remains focused not on those numbers but the bigger picture of the series as he attempts to lead an England side to victory in India for the first time since 1984-85.

Yet his smile when he left the field was as much because he sensed that yesterday finally tilted the battle England’s way.

A superb bowling performance on the opening day had left them needing just three wickets, although those three added 43 runs more than Cook would have liked as MS Dhoni dug in with a half-century.

In Cook, England have someone in the best touch of his career – this was his fifth century in five matches as captain, two coming as stand-in for Andrew Strauss in Bangladesh in 2010 .

And in Nick Compton, England have found an opener. He is still not secure, with Joe Root vying for the position, and he is not quick, making Jonathan Trott look like Viv Richards. But he does put a price on his wicket, which is exactly what is needed. Together, he and his skipper simply wore down the India attack.

Cook was fortunate to be dropped at slip by Cheteshwar Pujara on 17, Zaheer Khan the unlucky bowler. But after that Dhoni’s men never saw another chink in the armour.

Cook’s innings was textbook stuff. A straight six driven over Ravi Ashwin’s head shortly after lunch and a cover drive off Zaheer to move to 124 were show-stoppers but in between those beauties he blocked, cut and swept the spinners to distraction.

Compton played his part in a partnership of 165 before he left with his maiden half-century under his belt and some special memories in his head.

“Standing out there and seeing those stats flash up of 7,000 runs and him being the youngest player to do that, it was quite an amazing moment to be batting with this guy,” he said. “It is his age that speaks volumes – that he’s managed to do this as a young player when a lot of them don’t find their feet until they are, say, 29 like me. That’s amazing.

“He reminds me of Marcus Trescothick,” added Compton, a team-mate of the former England opener at Somerset. “When the ball is released you know what he is going to do and he just seems to do it time and time again.

“It is the mark of a very good player that he can keep doing the simple things for a long period of time. It gives you confidence that if you can get out there and stay with him, you are going to do a good job.”

Compton did just that before missing an attempted sweep at Pragyan Ojha. Trott joined Cook to add an unbeaten half-century partnership before the close as England finished day two, quite appropriately given Cook’s achievements, just 100 behind.